Help:Writing Character Pages: Difference between revisions

Help page
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File:DBFZ Trunks ShiningSlash.png
File:DBFZ Trunks ShiningSlash.png
File:DBFZ SSVegeta ConsecutiveEnergyBlast.png
File:DBFZ SSVegeta ConsecutiveEnergyBlast.png
File:GGXRD Millia ChromingRose2.png
</gallery>
</gallery>
*Crop the image so that extraneous details such as long ponytails do not take up too much space.
*Crop the image so that extraneous details such as long ponytails do not take up too much space.
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*Consider splicing multiple images together to make an image more readable
*Consider splicing multiple images together to make an image more readable
**For example, the image for Vegeta's Consecutive Energy Blast does not exist in the game, it was made by putting multiple blasts together to give the visual illusion that he has shot multiple shots in a row
**For example, the image for Vegeta's Consecutive Energy Blast does not exist in the game, it was made by putting multiple blasts together to give the visual illusion that he has shot multiple shots in a row
**Millia's Chroming Rose does not spawn the roses that close to her. The image was made by running forward, then backdashing and running forward again.
*Name the image with the following format: GameAbbreviation_CharacterName_attackName. So for example, Sol's 5P in Guilty Gear XRD would be named GGXRD_Sol_5P.png
*Name the image with the following format: GameAbbreviation_CharacterName_attackName. So for example, Sol's 5P in Guilty Gear XRD would be named GGXRD_Sol_5P.png
*Nearly all images that have text use the font Arial bolded. Please continue to use it for the sake of consistency.
*Nearly all images that have text use the font Arial bolded. Please continue to use it for the sake of consistency.

Revision as of 17:46, 13 May 2019

Emphasis on Competitive Gameplay

The Dustloop Wiki is not a place to talk about the lore of the games - there are other wikis for that. The purpose of the character pages is to give information about how a character plays in a competitive/tournament setting. Try to keep any backstory/personality section for characters brief - think about a paragraph total. Use the majority of the overview section to discuss the character's play style/unique abilities in the game, like how would you describe to a new player what this character does in a conversation.

Remember the Intended Audience

When writing guides, remember the intended audience is beginner and intermediate players --not experts.

  • Move explanations should not be very long if possible. Use bullet lists to list interesting properties, and paragraphs for deeper explanations.
  • Do not waste words describing what the attack looks like - that is what the image is for.
    • An exception is when the move is too visually complex for a small set of images to explain. In these cases, describing what a move looks like is acceptable.
  • The combo section should not list ALL combos for a character. List enough for a person to learn the basics for standard situations (common starters, big punishes, corners, etc.)
  • The strategy section should explain the goals of the character and how to achieve said goals. Be sure to explain tips and tricks the character uses such as Yosuke's glide technique, Arakune's fast-fall, Slayer's BDC, or Kagura's easy drive attack inputs.

Tone

The primary goal is to transfer information to the reader - it's best to think of yourself as a technical writer rather than a story teller. If information can be conveyed while being entertaining then all the better, but do not sacrifice informational value simply to be entertaining. Please try to keep this wiki primarily a place for information rather than to write jokes and story synopses. One suggestion is to mix the two; incorporate useful information into the entertainment and not simply joke around.

The main offender of this tenant is adding joke captions for images; occasional joking is fine, but giving every image a joke is overkill. Try adding a little useful info or having no caption at all.

Creating Images

  • The two primary goals for the images are:
  1. Make the attack easily identifiable by players who do not know the character and have seen the attack once or twice at most.
  2. Be a visual aid to explain how an attack works. See examples:
  • Use sprite rips with a transparent background for images even if the sprite does not use all the special effects used in game as long as the attack is still identifiable. If no rips are available, use high quality PNG screenshots taken with a capture card or straight from a computer.
  • Characters should use default colors and face right (as if they are player 1)
  • Combine multiple sprites together if the attack does an animation that can not easily be understood by one sprite alone. See examples:
  • Crop the image so that extraneous details such as long ponytails do not take up too much space.
  • Consider moving objects closer together, this meant to be an image people use to identify the attack. For example if the attack hits far away, such as Bedman 3H, or Cell's command throw, it's okay to move the hit effect closer.
  • Consider splicing multiple images together to make an image more readable
    • For example, the image for Vegeta's Consecutive Energy Blast does not exist in the game, it was made by putting multiple blasts together to give the visual illusion that he has shot multiple shots in a row
    • Millia's Chroming Rose does not spawn the roses that close to her. The image was made by running forward, then backdashing and running forward again.
  • Name the image with the following format: GameAbbreviation_CharacterName_attackName. So for example, Sol's 5P in Guilty Gear XRD would be named GGXRD_Sol_5P.png
  • Nearly all images that have text use the font Arial bolded. Please continue to use it for the sake of consistency.

Use the Templates

Templates are pre-defined sets of text used to maintain a uniform look throughout pages on the wiki. You can recognize a template when it's enclosed in double {s such as {{MyTemplate}}. To learn more about templates, check out mediawiki's help page.

Most users won't need to worry about them as they will already be in place. But just in case all the pages follow the same pattern:

  • Each move uses the template Template:MoveData to lay out an attack with move name, images, captions, and truncated list of frame data.
  • Each character's page refers to their Data page that has all the data for that character, for example Answer's links and frame data are all on GGXRD-R2/Answer/Data. Sections on the data page are referenced by the character page, such as by {{#lsth:GGXRD-R2/Answer/Data|5P}}
  • When in doubt, look at other character pages, copy, and adapt for your own uses.
  • When creating AttackData templates for new games, remember that not ALL frame data should be included. For example, Template:AttackData-BBCP does not include P1, P2, or SMP values while Template:AttackData-GGACR does not have GB+, GB-, or TG values.

Editing Frame Data

See Help:Editing Frame Data